Lesson 1:
Hydration
WEATHERING
Weathering
- Process of breakdown of rocks on earth
- Caused by action involving water, ice, acids,
salts, plants, animals, gravity and changing
temperatures.
Types of weathering:
1. Physical Weathering
- Happens especially in places where
there is little soil and few plants:
deserts and mountain regions
- Caused by the effects of changing
temperature, and it is sometimes
assisted by water.
a. Abrasion
- Occurs when rocks are exposed
frequently to water, wind, and gravity
b. Freeze Thaw
- Occurs when water continually seeps
into cracks, freezes and expands,
eventually breaking the rock apart.
- Usually happens in mountain regions
like the Alps.
c. Exfoliation
- It can happen as cracks when there is a
loss of pressure on the rock
- Sometimes called “onion skin” as the
result looks like the rock as been
stripped of its outer layer
2. Chemical Weathering
- Caused by rainwater reacting to the
mineral grains in rocks to form new
crystals and soluble salts
- Rapidly occurs at higher temperatures
- Warm and damp environment are the
best
a. Carbonation
- Carbon dioxide in the air dissolves in
rainwater, making it weakly acidic
- This “weak” carbonic acid can dissolve
limestone by seeping into the cavities
and cracks of it
b. Acidification
- Polluting gasses (sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen dioxide) dissolves in
rainwater to produce acid rain.
- Acid rain are very corrosive, and
attacks many rock types seriously
damaging buildings and other
structure
c. Hydrolysis
- Acidic or basic water
- It takes place when the solution reacts
with rock-forming minerals such as
feldspar to produce clay
d.
- Water reacts chemically with the rocks,
modifying its chemical structure
e. Oxidation
- Breakdown of rocks by oxygen and
water, often giving it a rusty-colored
weathered surface
3. Biological Weathering
- Rocks are weakened by biological
agents such as plants and animals.
- When plant roots grow, it would create
fractures and cracks that eventually
result in rock breakage.
a. By Physical Means
- Burrowing animals such shrews and
moles create holes in the ground by
excavation, thus moving rock
fragments to the surface
b. By Chemical Compounds
- Some plants and animals produce
acidic substances that react with
rockets and causes its slow
disintegration

Lesson 2:
INTERNAL HEAT
SOURCE
4 Layers of the Earth
1. Crust
2. Mantle
3. Outer core (magnetic field)
4. Inner core
Earth’s internal heat
- Heat inside the earth from radioactive
decay of elements and residual heat
leftover from earth’s formation
- This heat drives plate tectonics and parts
of the rock cycle
- The burning of fossil fuels releases
airborne particles and greenhouse gasses
into the atmosphere
- Earth was formed about 4.6 billion years
ago and continue to serve as habitat to
diverse organisms
- Its biotic components remain alive due to
proper regulation of internal heat. It has
massive amount of heat that varies from - It is the heat energy released from
its layer the friction that occurred between
- The heat increases from the crust down to
the inner core due to several reasons.
the outer core and the mantle
- This internal heat comes from the
following sources:
—--------------------------------------------------------
Lesson 3:
A. Primordial heat of the planets remains
from its early stage. ENDOGENIC
- The earth was formed from the
Process of accretion PROCESSES
- were in gasses and dust of
cloud was attracted by
Endogenic Processes
gravitational energy
- A geological process that was formed,
- Created earth’s molten core,
originated, and located below the surface
which traps heat
of the Earth “tectonic movements,
Metamorphism, Magmatism”
B. Heat from the decay of radioactive
elements.
How magma is formed?
- The spontaneous breakdown of an
- It forms from partial melting of mantle
atomic nucleus releases energy and
rocks
matter.
- As temperature rises some minerals melt
- Isotopes: same number if protons
and others remain solid
but different number of neutrons
- 600-1000 degree Celsius
C. Frictional Heating
Decompression Melting
- The more descent into earth’s
- Usual temperature but pressure is reduced
interior, the amount of pressure
- Happens when the rock is being moved
increases
toward the surface, either at a “Mantle
Plume,” or at a “Mantle Convection Cell”

Flux Melting
- Rock is close to its melting point and
coolant is added to the rock, the melting
temperature is reduced and partial melting
starts.
- -As the magma moves upwards, it
interacts with the surrounding rock,
initiating partial melting onto other rocks.
Intrusion
- A magma that moves up into a volcano
without erupting
- Plutonism
- refers to all sorts of igneous
geological activities taking
place below the earth’s
surface
- Plutonites are purifies
polycarbonate: granite
Extrusion
- Eruptions of magmatic material that cause
land formation on the surface of the earth
- Volcanism
- Used to describe all
geological phenomena that
occur on the natural
terrestrial surface such as the
eruption of volcanoes and Pole switching
creation of hot springs - Due to the dynamic system in the outer
- Volcanites: scoria and core
obsidian - Frequency varies from 10,000 years to
50M years
—-------------------------------------------------------- - Last switch was approximately 780,000
Lesson 4: years ago
SEAFLOOR Harry Hess
- In 1960, the american geophysicist
SPREADING - Explained how the convection currents in
the earth’s interior make the seafloor
spread
Seafloor Spreading
This current ensures that the recycled materials
Devices: formed in the lithosphere were back to the
1. SONAR mantle. In the recycling process which was later
- A device that bounces sound waves named as seafloor spreading the magma moves
off underwater objects and the up from the mantle and erupts as pillow lava.
record the echoes of these sound
waves Example: Mid-Atlantic ridge (north america and
- Many people believed that the south africa)
ocean floor was completely a flat
What would happen if the Poles Switch?
surface
- Invented 60 years ago, in the 1950’s
2. Magnetometers
- Attached to ships scientists
discovered a lot about the magnetic
properties of the seafloor
3 evidences that support the idea that seafloor is - The ocean basins cover the largest area of the C. Mature
continuously spreading: earth’s surface - Broad ocean basins widen, trenches
a. Evidence from molten materials-rocks shaped - The world ocean is divided into the; develop, subduction begins.
like pillows (rock pillows) show that molten a. Pacific Ocean - Example: Atlantic Ocean
materials have erupted again and again from - The largest, deepest, and oldest D. Declining
cracks along the mid ocean ridge and cooled existing ocean basin. - Subduction eliminates much sea-floor
quickly b. Atlantic Ocean and oceanic ridge
b. Evidence from magnetic strip rocks that make - Second largest ocean basin - Example: Pacific Ocean
up the ocean floor lie in a pattern of E. Terminal
magnetized stripes which hold a record of the c. Indian Ocean - Last of the sea-floor is eliminated,
reversals in magnetic field - Third largest ocean basin continents collide forming a mountain
c. Evidence from drilling sample- cone samples d. Arctic Oceans chain
from the ocean floor show that older rocks are - The smallest of the earth’s - Example: Mediterranean Se
found farther from the ridge; youngest rocks ocean basins F. Suturing
are in the mid-ocean ridge - Convergence of continental plates and
Evolution of the Ocean Basin uplifting to form mountain range
—-------------------------------------------------------- - Wilson Cycle explains the process of the - Example: Himalayas
Lesson 5: opening (beginning) and the closing (end) of
an ocean which is driven by Plate Tectonics Through the formation of ocean basins, different
- The process is named after the Canadian features, and structures are formed.
STRUCTURE AND geophysicist John Tuzo Wilson (1908-1993). 1. Continental shelf
- It is divided into 6 stages: - Partly shallow extension of the
EVOLUTION OF OCEAN A. Embryonic continent underwater
- Rift valley forms as a continent begins 2. Continental slope
BASINS to split - Transition zone of continental shelf
- Example: African Rift Lakes and deep ocean floor
B. Juvenile - It starts from oceanic crust to
Structure and Evolution of Oceanic Basins
- Sea-floor basalts begin forming and continental crust
- About 200 million of years ago that
continents diverge 3. Continental rise
supercontinent Pangaea had existed
- Example: Red Sea - It is where the ocean begins
- The supercontinent breaks apart and ocean
- All basaltic and ocean rocks are
basins are formed
formed.
 4. Abyssal plain - These divisions are called geochronologic What is the Geologic Time Scale continued?
- The flattest part of the ocean units - Units were named as they were discovered
- 50% of the earth’s surface is being - Most of these life-forms are found as - Sometimes unit names were borrowed
covered by this plain fossils from local geography, from a person, or
5. Island
- Without fossils, scientists may not have the type of rock that dominated the unit
- It is not just a piece of land floating up
concluded that the earth has a history that - Examples:
in the middle of the sea, it is part of the
ocean basin that extends up from the
long precedes mankind - Cambrian
ocean floor - A system that organize the history of the - From the Latin name for
6. Seamount planet Wales
- It is an undersea mountain - In this present time, humans are the most - Named for exposures of
7. Trench powerful strata found in a type-section
- It is the deepest part of the ocean - 6 divisions: in Wales by British geologist
8. Mid-oceanic ridge a. Eons Adam Sedgwick
- It is where upwelling of magma - Longest subdivision, based - Devonian
happens which causes the seafloor to on the abundance of certain - Named after significant
spread
fossils outcrops first discovered
b. Eras near Devonshire, England
—--------------------------------------------------------
- Next to longest subdivision, - Jurassic
Lesson 5 :
marked by major changes in - Named for representative
the fossil record strata first seen in the Jura
GEOLOGIC TIMES - Subdivision of eons
c. Periods
Mountains by German
geologist Humboldt in 1975
SCALE - Based on types of life
existing at the time
- Cretaceous
- From the Latin “creta”
d. Epochs meaning chalk by a Belgian
What does the time scale represent? - Shortest subdivision, marked geologist
- Divides up the history of the earth based by the differences in life - The earliest time of earth is called the
on life-forms that have existed during forms and can vary from Hadean
specific times since the creation of the continent to continent
planet
- Refers to a period of time for which
we have no rock record, and the
archean followed which
corresponds to the ages of the
oldest known rocks on earth. These,
with the Proterozoic Eon are called
the Precambrian Eon
- The remainder of geologic time,
including present day, belongs to
the Phanerozoic Eon
- Precambrian SuperEon
- Hadean
- Hades
- Hot earth
- Volcanic activity
- Fire
- Subsystem: geosphere
- Archean
- Archaebacteria
- Life forms here
- Spontaneous life
- Unicellular/anaerobic
(no oxygen needed for
life)
- Proterozoic
- Life continues
- Aerobic (need water)
- Has oxygen
- Phanerozoic - Supercontinent Gondwana
- recent/ongoing forms near the south pole
- Multicellular - Brachiopods
- Marine animals that
PALEOZOIC ERA resemble clams
- Ancient land - Trilobites
- Limestones and coal deposits of western - Lived in earth’s
Europe and the Eastern United States ancient seas
were formed - Extinct before the
- Cambrian (beginning) opened with the dinosaurs came into
breakup of the world-continent Rodina existence
and closed with the formation of Pangaea, 2. Ordovician
as the earth’s continents came together - 1st animals with bones
once again appear, though dominant
- This event is thought to have caused animals are still trilobites,
the climate changes that led to mass brachiopods and corals
extinction event - Beginning of the
- The Appalachian mountains were formed construction of south
during this time carolina
- Animal: Frilled Shark, no eyes - A very cold time in earth’s
- Plants: Cone bearing, moses, ferns history: there was a great
- 6 major periods: extinction due to ice caps in
1. Cambrian present day africa
- Explosion of biodiversity - Early fish:
- “Age of the Trilobites” Arthropods,Mollusks (Sharks
- Animals: marine that do not have jaws)
invertebrates (trilobites and - Four main continents:
brachiopods) - Gondwana
- Baltica
 - Siberia
- Laurentia
3. Silurians
- First land plants appear, and
land animals follow
- Laurentia collides with
Baltica and closes iapetus sea
- Coral reefs expand and land
plants begin to colonize
barren land
- First millipede fossils and
sea scorpions (Eurypeptides)
found in this period
- Ocean to land animals -
Amphibians (live in water
and land)
4. Devonian
- Pre-pangaea forms
- Animal: fish
- Oceans still freshwater and
fish migrate from southern
hemisphere to North
America
- Present-day Arctic Canada
was at the equator and
hardwoods began to grow
- Amphibians, evergreens, and
ferns appear
5. Carboniferous
- “Coal Age”
- Warm, moist climate
conditions contributed to
lash vegetations and dense
swampy forests
- Evolution of the first reptiles
took place with the amniotic
egg, a porous shell
containing a membrane that
provided an environment for
embryo
6. Permian
- Last period of the Paleozoic
- Pangaea forms. Reptiles
spread across continents
- Appakachians rise
- 90% of Earth’s species
become extinct due to
volcanism in Siberia
- Marks the end of trilobites,
ammonoids, and most fish
- End of the the paleozoic, largest mass extinction
in history wiped out approximately 90% of all
marine animal species and 70% of land animals
-Causes:
a. Lowering of sea levels
b. Increased volcanic activity
c. Climate changes - cooler
MESOZOIC ERA
- Middle life
- Panagea broke up around the middle of
this era
- Reptiles became the most abundant
animals because their ability to adapt to
the drier climate of the Mesozoic Era
- Skin maintains body fluids
- Embryos live in shells
- Small mammals and birds also appeared
during this era
- Mammals were small, warm-blooded
animals, hair covering their bodies
- Has 3 periods
1. Triassic
- First dinosaurs appear
- First mammals- small
rodents (rats) appear
- Life and Fauna re-diversify
- Rocky Mountains form
- First turtle fossils from this
period
- Pangaea breaks apart
2. Jurassic
- “Golden age of Dinosaurs”
- Pangaea still breaking apart
 - Dinosaurs flourish
- First birds appear
- North America continues to
rotate away from Africa
- Archaeopteryx - probably the
first airborne dinosaur, lived
in late Jurassic
3. Cretaceous
- T-rex develops
- First snakes and primates
(monkey) appear
- Deciduous trees and grasses
common (because the
primates are omnivorous)
- Rodents and primates
- First flowering plants
- Mass extinction marks the
end of mesozoic Era, with the
demise of dinosaurs and 25%
of all marine life
- Scotty - largest known T.rex
fossil to have been
discovered
CENOZOIC
- Recent life
- “Age of Mammals”
- Began about 65 million years ago and
continuous today
- Climate was warm and mild - Dogs, cats, and apes appear
- Marine animals such as whales and (Oligocene)
dolphins evolved - Horses, Mastodons, camels and
- Mammals began to increase and evolve tigers roam free (Miocene)
adaptations that allowed them to live in - Hominids develop and the grand
many different environments- land, air, Canyon form (Pliocene)
and sea 2. Quaternary
- Grasses increases and provided a food - Modern humans develop and ice
source for grazing animals sheets are predominant - Ice age
- Many mountain ranges formed during the (Pleistocene)
Cenozoic Era - Holocene Humans flourish
- Alps in Europe,Himalayas in India, and (Holocene)
Rocky Mountains in the Usa - Animals: Bats, Dogs cats, Cattle,
- Growth of these mountains may have and Humans (are thought to have
helped to cool down the climate appeared around 3.5 million years
- As the climate changes, the animals had to ago, quaternary)
adapt to the rise and fall of the oceans
caused by melting glaciers
- Flowering plants were now the most
common plant life
1. Tertiary
- First horses appear and tropical
plants dominate (Paleocene)
- Grasses spread and whales, rhinos,
elephants, and other large
mammals develop
- Sea level rises and limestone
deposits form in S.C (eocene)